What next? For now: “Get systems in place” Help needed please, what App next?!

Time to Stream-Line my life:

Over the last few months, I’ve been on a constant search for systems that can be implemented to help me in my business as an artist. Most people in other careers immediately appoint shop assistants or personnel to handle admin as soon as they open shop or start a new business, yet for some reason, most artists don’t. We tend to try to do everything on our own.

Even when we get to that point where we realize that its time to get ourselves some help, we feel stuck, as we are unsure how to incorporate that help into the art business. Through books that I’ve read and talks I’ve streamed, I’ve discovered a few concepts that have drastically changed how I structure my life. A few books from this past year or so gave me a new direction in becoming more organized.

To add to this process, I’ve started asking around, drawing knowledge from those around me, and I’ve found that the more you ask and the more you read in a certain direction, the more information relevant to you, crosses your path.

I want to share a few of the tools I started using to streamline my business. If you can help to direct me in ways to get organized and share apps, systems, tips and tricks that you found are helpful, it would definitely be greatly appreciated, as I still have a long way to go before I can start breathing easy!

Apps I use:

Evernote: A brilliant application designed for note taking, organizing, task lists, and archiving. I found I can store everything in one place, such as blog posts and websites I want to follow. Plus, the personal details I want on hand is synchronized on all my devices.

Onedrive: This is Microsoft’s cloud, installed on my cellphone and laptop and any other devices I’ll need. Conveniently, files you save to OneDrive are available online at OneDrive.com and offline on your PC.

1Password- Password manager and secure wallet: Now I only need to remember one password! Dankie tog!!

CANVA: This is such a great program for people, who like me, know nothing about designing. It’s simple and fun. For some reason, I do struggle to download the items I’ve designed in high resolution and the images pixelate if I use it as my FB cover photo. It isn’t supposed to do that, but I will get that sorted soon.

Playful – Fun – Whimsical, My CANVA design

Animal friends, another CANVA design I did

Snapseed: This is a great editing program that I discovered only recently. Basically, an easy photoshop at your fingertips, the app makes editing fun and fast, with more tools than meets the eye. I’ve watched some tutorials on Youtube, and it is definitely an editing App I will learn to make better use of over time. Time to get to know a new app is always a factor, I think I need an app that can create extra time!

I do like the frame option on Snapseed although my kids told me that frames are a “no-go”, I still do like it.

My first SnapSeed experimented framed image

PhotoScan: This app is for documents and being on your smartphone, is always on hand. No more scanning and mailing the traditional way. You scan with your phone on the spot and the documents are ready to send!

It’s also perfect for sketches, the images are even better than photos taken with my smartphone. This is a sketch by my daughter, Heloise, you can follow her art on her FB page: Die Lyne.

And my latest artworks:

These paintings are very design orientated as I am working towards producing a range of merchandise together with my sister, Hanlie Kotze and these images might soon feature on some of our merchandise.